Wozniacki speaks: “I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy,” she says. “A lot of games in the first set were quite close, but I was proud that I managed to stay cool. She [Suarez Navarro] improved in the second set and made me step back to the baseline. I stepped a bit closer to the baseline in the third set and I feel had a little more energy in the end.” On Elise Mertens, her semi-final opponent, she says “she’s had an amazing start to the year. It’s gonna be a tough one.”
Wozniacki found another gear in that final set just when she needed it - and she’ll need it again in her semi-final when she goes in search of her first appearance in the final at Melbourne and, of course, that elusive slam.
And that’s all from us. Stay on the site for reports and reaction from this and plenty more on a busy and long old day. Thanks for following. Bye.
Caroline Wozniacki beats Carla Suárez Navarro 6-0, 6-7, 6-2!
Third set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki rounds off an impressive performance by securing victory with some comfort. A bit of late-80s pop nostalgia with Mental as Anything’s Live It Up played on the PA serenades the players back on court. Wozniacki begins with another excellent first serve, that enables an easy one-two and a 15-0 lead. Another two errors from her opponent takes the Dane to three match points. She squanders the first of them with a netted forehand after a long rally and some more focused returning from Suarez Navarro, but secures her place in the semi-finals when the Spaniard overhits from the back of the court again. Wozniacki raises her arms – she’s in the last four, and it’s 1.39am local time.
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Third set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7, 5-2 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Suarez Navarro tries to wrongfoot her opponent with a deft half-volley but it’s just out (confirmed on challenge), then nets with another unforced error. Her opponent responds with one of her own before dominating a long rally and finishing it off with a thumping volley at the net to take two break points, and she needs only one of them to go two breaks up. Wozniacki is a game away from the semi-final.
Third set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 6-7, 4-2 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki begins her service game with a belting crosscourt backhand winner, but the Spaniard responds with a fine pass down the line, then goes 15-30 up after her return forces Wozniacki out wide to net her forehand. An ace is then overruled by Suarez Navarro’s challenge – it was indeed out – but Wozniacki pulls it back to 30-all. A limp forehand into the net squanders some of Suarez Navarro’s good work though but she dictates the next rally from her first return to level it again at deuce. A better first serve from Wozniacki sets up a firm winner and she holds her nerve in a long rally for a slightly nervy hold.
Third set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7, 3-2 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) A simple unforced backhand slice into the net from Suarez Navarro gets Wozniacki on her way again, and a ripping backhand winner down the line puts her 15-30 up, but she overhits from the back of the court twice in succession, which gives Suárez Navarro the opening and she secures a vital hold with an emphatic smash at the net.
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Third set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 6-7, 3-1 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Hi all, Tom Davies again, jumping in again after Simon’s frankly Stakhanovite efforts. It’s gone quarter past one in Melbourne – there’s no way the more uptight UK licensing authorities would allow a sporting event in a city centre to go on this late. Anyway, Wozniacki eases through her service game to love, the second point courtesy of a well controlled awkward smash at the net, which is followed by a long rally that induces an error from Suarez Navarro. The Dane looks back in control here.
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Third set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7, 2-1 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) A couple of unforced errors from Suarez Navarro help Wozniacki to 15-40 and two break points, and another unforced error - a forehand long - wins her the first of them and gives her control, for now, of the decider.
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Third set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 6-6, 1-1 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki serves the first double fault of the entire match (after 10 aces she remains in credit) in what is otherwise a fairly humdrum hold.
Third set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7, 0-1 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Wozniacki takes a comfort break between sets, though she may just have been desperately searching for her misplaced mojo, comes out and loses the first game to 15, and swishes her racket angrily at herself at the end of it.
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Suarez Navarro levels the match at a set apiece
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki is largely an irrelevance for most of the tie break. Suarez Navarro hits two excellent forehand winners and two excellent backhand winners, and though there are a couple of unforced errors other than an ace Wozniack doesn’t actually win a point at any stage. Suarez Navarro has dragged herself level here!
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Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 6-6 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Pressure? What pressure. Suarez Navarro holds to love, bothered more by two unsuccessful Wozniacki challenges than any of her opponent’s shots, and we’ll have ourselves a tie break.
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 6-5 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki has been averaging two aces per game in her last three service games, and she produces another one to win this one. Suarez Navarro has to serve to stay in it again.
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 5-5 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) The players take turns to hit the ball into the net, and then take turns to hit unforced errors wide or long. Then Wozniacki attacks a second serve, and Suarez Navarro finds the net again: match point. She loses it, and the next point, with unforced errors, allowing Suarez Navarro to win the game with a hammer of a forehand.
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 5-4 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) There’s a delay before Wozniacki serves to allow a ball kid to deal with the latest in a series of pesky court-invading moths. And then the Dane proceeds to crush her opponent like an irritating nocturnal insect, hitting an ace and two fine winners as she holds to love, and Suarez Navarro will serve to stay in the match.
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 4-4 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) At 30-0 Wozniacki hits a delicious winning return from wide on the forehand side, and turns the game around. Suarez Navarro doesn’t win another point, eventually hitting a backhand well wide to surrender the break.
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 3-4 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) At 15-15 Wozniacki serves her first ace of the set, and then she comes to the net in the next point but Suarez Navarro guesses which way she’s going to volley, and slams a crosscourt passing shot into space. The Spaniard wins the next point with a wrongfooting forehand and has another break point, but Wozniacki saves it with her second ace of the set saves and motors on from there.
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 2-4 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) A straightforward hold, and Wozniacki now serves to stay competitive in this second set and needs to regain focus fast.
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 2-3 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Well this is puzzling. Suarez Navarro wins the opening point, takes the second with a fine forehand pass and pressures her opponent into two further mistakes, and now she’s broken to love!
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 2-2 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Wozniacki’s focus has gone missing, and now it’s the Dane who is gifting her opponent points with mystifyingly mishit shots. She’s 6-3 up on unforced errors in this set.
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 2-1 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki also holds to love. Three of the points came pretty quickly, the other required a 19-shot rally, ending when the Dane came forward to send a forehand spinning and dipping across court for a winner.
Second set: Wozniacki 6-0, 1-1 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Suarez Navarro wins a game! And she does it by holding to love!
Second set: Wozniacki* 6-0, 1-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) At 30-30 Suarez Navarro needlessly hits a forehand return into the net and looks aghast. The crowd might ordinarily be expected to give some kind of encouraging murmur, perhaps even a full-throated cry, but, unimpressed at the lack of entertainment being served up, they remain absolutely silent. She does go on to earn a break point, hitting both forehand and backhand winners along the way, but she can’t take it, and after four deuces Wozniacki holds.
The first set featured nine winners each, but Suarez-Navarro hit 15 unforced errors, to her opponent’s three.
Wozniacki wins the first set in 34 minutes!
First set: Wozniacki 6-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Wozniacki takes a 0-30 lead simply by keeping the ball in play, working her opponent from side to side, and waiting for the points to be handed to her. But then, something of a transformation: at 0-30 there’s a lovely crosscourt backhand winner from Suarez Navarro, and then a fine angled forehand to make it 30-30, and from here the Spaniard keeps finding winners with some regularity. But at her advantage she horribly misses an easy forehand volley, and Wozniacki wins the next two points to take the set!
First set: Wozniacki* 5-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) Wozniacki holds to love, winning the game with her third ace of the day (her opponent is yet to serve one). So far the Dane has hit a single unforced error; her opponent is on 11.
First set: Wozniacki 4-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) Suarez Navarro has a decent forehand and sometimes gets a lot of whippy topspin on her single-handed backhand, but at present she is being outclassed. Wozniacki earns two break points and takes the first of them, with a double-handed backhand that clips the back of the backline.
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First set: Wozniacki* 3-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) And another break point, though Wozniacki is almost entirely to blame for this one: she stops a point to challenge a call that was proved correct, and then overhits a forehand to turn 30-15 to 30-40. She saves it, and goes on to win the game - a long one, with just the one break point but four deuces - though it also sees Suarez Navarro’s best shot of the match so far, a forehand down the line.
First set: Wozniacki 2-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes server) A game of long rallies yields the first break point of the match, and it’s lost with a backhand hit long, the Spaniard’s third unforced error of the game.
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First set: Wozniacki* 1-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes server) The second seed holds to 15, thanks in part to a fine if rather desperate defensive shot that plops onto the line and allows her to win a point she seemed already to have lost.
Wozniaki will serve first, just as soon as a ball kid cleans up something on the court with a bit of magic spray and a towel.
The action continues, Suarez Navarro and Wozniacki on court now and warming up.
Jim Courier strings out the post-match interview, with Carla Suárez Navarro and Caroline Wozniacki clearly surprised by the sudden mid-set conclusion.
Marin Cilic talks:
Unbelievable performance from both of us and really unfortunate for Rafa. He’s an unbelievable competitor and it’s really unfortunate for him to finish this way. As often happens when you’re wounded, sometimes you’re a little bit looser. So I was really paying attention in this first couple of games, trying to keep my intensity up. He was struggling to return my serve, especially the slider out wide. I was using it a lot and it was working most of the time. The tie break was weird. I made a few errors. In the third set I had a lot of chances and somehow Rada was coming up with good shots at critical moments and that’s the way he’s always been, finding the shots even when he’s not at his best level.
Kyle Edmund has had an amazing run in the tournament. A few five setters, great battles, and big congratulations for him. I have to keep going with my own game. Kyle is also a big hitter. I have to take things in my own hands.
On TV we watch Nadal take the steps up from the court and towards the changing rooms one at a time, hobbled.
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Nadal concedes the match, and Cilic is in the semi-finals!
At the end of the game Nadal limps his way to the net, shakes hands with the umpire, shakes hands with Cilic, and angrily thrashes his racket into his chair. He’s out!
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Fifth set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 0-2 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic forces an error to take the first point and Nadal surrenders the next couple with rank groundstrokes. At this stage, at 0-40, the game seems up. He saves the first, and the crowd roars encouragement. He wins the second, to further acclaim, and the third as well. But Cilic forces another - missing a forehand he should have landed by a couple of inches - and a fifth, and after saving a game point himself a sixth. And this one he takes, with a fine crosscourt passing shot from deep behind the baseline.
Fifth set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 0-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) After losing the first point Nadal makes little effort to get involved in the next three, and ignores Cilic’s final serve altogether. Three aces on the spin win the game for the Croatian, and Nadal is very far from happy about life.
.@RafaelNadal looks in some discomfort... #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/GubjM7O2jy
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2018
The physio is back out at the changeover, and Nadal is shaking his head a lot.
Cilic breaks again to level the match at two sets all!
Fourth set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 2-6 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic is attacking Nadal’s second serve with relish, slamming home a return winner to go 0-15 up. Indeed, every time he gets a chance on his forehand side he’s going for winners, quite often successfully. Nadal, meanwhile, scoops a forehand of his own needlessly wide to give Cilic a set point, and with another forehand winner he takes it!
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Fourth set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 2-5 Cilic* (*denotes server) Cilic hits a drop volley, and Nadal chases that down and the lob that follows as well, hitting it back through his legs. So he can still hare about the court when necessary, but he’s clearly not at 100%. And for all that effort he still loses that point, and in due course the game.
Fourth set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 2-4 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic wins the first point and Nadal is clearly still troubled, crouching and stretching between points. Cilic wins the next as well, slamming a forehand out of the Spaniard’s reach, and the one after that, sending a forehand straight at his opponent’s ankles and forcing an error. That rings up three break points, but with the set slipping from his grasp Nadal saves them all, winning five points in a row to take the game.
And now he’s up, and ready to continue.
Simon here, back after a short break. The physio is still working on Nadal’s right thigh, using a small pot of mysterious red stuff.
Medical time-out: The trainer has been called onto court to attend to Nadal, who looked to be clutching his calf. “Now I feel a little bit tired and a bit of a strain,” he seems to be telling him. A vigorous massage ensues. And with that, I’ll hand you back to Simon.
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Fourth set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 1-4 Cilic* (*denotes server) A lovely angled crosscourt forehand gets Nadal’s mojo back a touch at 15-all, but Cilic’s response is delicious, a low angled volley at the net that eludes the advancing Nadal. A big serve makes it 40-15 and another miscued return hands Cilic the game with ease. The pendulum’s swung back towards the Croat again now.
Fourth set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 1-3 Cilic (*denotes server) Hi, Tom Davies here, just giving Simon a bit of a break as another marathon evening session stretches out before us. A fine double-handed backhand return gives Cilic an early advantage but an overhit one then levels it at 15-all. A back of the court slugfest ensues, Nadal eventually wearing his opponent down and forcing him to net a forehand. The Spaniard then fluffs a dropshot at the net and sends another stretched backhand out wide to give Cilic a break point, which he seizes with firm intent, dictating and then ending the rally with a forceful driven forehand to the corner of the court.
Fourth set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 1-2 Cilic* (*denotes server) From 40-15 Cilic misses successive points with forehand errors. His sliced serve to Nadal’s backhand is bearing a lot of ripe, juice fruit though, and it wins him the next point and another soon afterwards, though on the second occasion Nadal had a decent passing chance. Here’s Kevin Mitchell on Kyle Edmund and Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Spain.
Fourth set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 1-1 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic hits two killer returns at the start of the game to go 0-30 up, but then misses three achievable returns and fails to win another point.
Fourth set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 0-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) Cilic holds with ease and to 15. “That’s typical Nadal,” writes Roshan. “He plays second fiddle and then turns the screws.”
Nadal takes the third set to lead 2-1!
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 Cilic (*denotes server) Nadal takes an early mini-break as Cilic pays for a late decision to come to the net - he doesn’t get there in time to volley a winner, and instead has to brake and hits a tentative backhand into the net from mid-court. But it’s the first of many: Cilic hits a fabulous crosscourt passing shot and a fine backhand winner to go 4-1 up, but then an unforced error and Nadal’s incredible return from way wide makes in 4-3; Cilic’s forehand winner means that seven of the first eight points have been won against serve. This is so upsetting that a baby starts crying - a baby in the Rod Laver Arena watching tennis at 10pm - causing a lengthy delay. But in the end the game and the set hinges on one crucial moment: at 5-5 Cilic puts on a fantastic display of forehand power-hitting to take control of the point only to slightly overhit the winner. Nadal is thus gifted a set point, which he takes!
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Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 6-6 Cilic* (*denotes server) Cilic starts with an ace, serve-volleys his way to 30-0, smacks down a forehand for 40-0, and sends over an unreturnable serve for the game. We shall have a tie break.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 6-5 Cilic (*denotes server) These are crucial moments now, and Nadal produces his finest service game for a while, holds to 15 and heaves the pressure upon Cilic, who will serve once again to stay in the set.
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 5-5 Cilic* (*denotes server) At 15-0 Cilic comes to the net but his first volley is poor, and allows Nadal to spin a lovely, spinning passing shot down the line, curling around Cilic and back in. It doesn’t stop Cilic coming to the net in the next point, and this time his volley is much better. Nadal wins the next point with an excellent and loudly-celebrated forehand, and at 30-30 Cilic hits a forehand an inch long and suddenly Nadal has set point. Cilic saves it, taking control of the point with a backhand of fearsome power and exquisite depth, and goes on to win the game with a fine forehand approach and backhand drop volley.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 5-4 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic takes the opening point, running round a backhand to send the ball across court for a clean winner, but Nadal eventually holds to 30. He has been emphatically second best in this set, but Cilic now serves to stay in it.
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 4-4 Cilic* (*denotes server) Maybe Nadal wasn’t expecting this match to last so long, or he’s planning a significant tactical switch, as he’s just had to send three rackets away for restringing. As for this game, Cilic starts it with a double fault but thereafter his serving is excellent, including a couple of aces, and there’s not much Nadal can do about it.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 4-3 Cilic (*denotes server) This starts off as a straightforward service game but Nadal just can’t quite put it away. At 40-15 he sets himself up for a volleyed winner but hits into the net, and Cilic then strikes two excellent winners, one off each wing, to earn a break point. Nadal saves it, nailing a first serve out wide, but Cilic’s fine, flat crosscourt backhand earns him another go. Nadal serves wide again, and though Cilic gets it back he has pretty much no chance of winning the point having done so, and from there the No1 finally takes control.
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 3-3 Cilic* (*denotes server) Nadal hits a lovely forehand into the corner of the court, and Cilic can’t get it back. Happily, by then he’s already 40-0 up, and an ace finishes it.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 3-2 Cilic (*denotes server) The first point ends unusually, with a line judge deciding a Cilic forehand was long and letting out a wild, high-pitched shriek to let everyone know about it, the umpire overruling, Nadal challenging and HawkEye revealing that the umpire was, by a whisker, right. The point is replayed, and Nadal wins it and all the other ones.
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 2-2 Cilic* (*denotes server) This is like Cilic v himself at the moment, with Nadal just getting the ball back in play as much as he can and waiting to see what happens next. So there’s winners and unforced errors, aces and double faults. The top seed needs to find another gear.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 2-1 Cilic (*denotes server) Here we see probably Cilic’s finest point of the match so far, with a vicious forehand down the line leaving Nadal struggling, and another crosscourt adding the coup de grace. That makes it 15-15, and another excellent point, won with an emphatic volley, and an unforced error give Cilic a break point at 30-40. Then he hits a groundstroke an inch long, and then does it again to give Nadal game point and, a little later, to give up the game. Cilic is the one hitting winners, though - 16 of them in the second set, to Nadal’s seven, and this set is continuing in a similar vein.
Third set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 1-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) As Cilic prepares to toss the ball in the air at the start of his service game Nadal takes a dozen little shuffly steps backwards, so that by the time it arrives he is as far away from court as it is possible to get. He still loses the point, and just before the next one he comes forward, taking the ball just a yard or so behind the baseline. The first serve is missed, but the second is pummelled down the line for a clean winner. He stays forward for the remainder of the game, but it doesn’t do him a great deal of good.
Third set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 Cilic (*denotes server) At 30-15 Cilic is brought back into the rally by a net cord, and taken back out of it again by fine reactions and even finer volleying from Nadal, who speeds through the game from there.
Cilic wins the second set 6-3!!
Second set: Nadal 6-3, 3-6 Cilic* (*denotes server) Remarkable stuff. Having been broken in upsetting circumstances Cilic has reeled off four games in a row to level the match at a set apiece!
Second set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-5 Cilic (*denotes server) At 30-0 it looks like this will be another straightforward service game, but it’s not to be: Cilic battles back to 30-30, and then to deuce, whereupon an unforced error from Nadal gives him break point. Here Cilic gets terrific angle on a crosscourt forehand and Nadal chases it down but, from way wide of court, can’t get it back! Nadal has won just 25% of points on his second serve in this set.
Second set: Nadal 6-3, 3-4 Cilic* (*denotes server) And Cilic then holds to love, serving two aces in a row to win it.
Second set: Nadal* 6-3, 3-3 Cilic (*denotes server) I’m also angry about that bit of umpiring. The umpires are there to enforce the rules, of course, but they don’t need to be so clumsy and thoughtless about it. There are times when it is appropriate to allow a little leeway, or to allow an absolutely key point to be played before disrupting a player’s concentration. Some will say that there’s no leeway in the rulebook, only right and wrong. And those people, I would argue, should not be chair umpires in the latter stages of major competitions.
So what will Cilic do with his anger? Will it destroy him, or inspire him? It looks like the latter as he motors to a 0-30 lead. At 15-30 a plane noisily flies overhead and Nadal waits for it to pass, nervously glancing at the umpire as he does so, but no warning is forthcoming for him. He wins that point but struggles through the game. At deuce Cilic wins a break point but surrenders it with an unforced error, at which Nadal produces an unforced error of his own to give him another one - and this time, on the second serve, he slashes a forehand across court for a clean winner and breaks back!
Second set: Nadal 6-3, 3-2 Cilic* (*denotes server) A forehand of impeccable depth and direction makes it 15-30, and though a strong serve gives Cilic a chance to win the next point at the net he doesn’t take it, presenting Nadal with a chance to pass that he takes. At 15-40, with a game to save and the pressure on, Cilic engages in a one-man ball-bouncing party, and he’s still bouncing when the umpire chirps up with a time violation warning. This may have been right within the rules of the game, but the timing of it is horrible. Cilic is thrown, and promptly double-faults to hand Nadal the break. I don’t know what he shouted in Croatian at the changeover, and it’s probably just as well.
Second set: Nadal* 6-3, 2-2 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic earns a second break point of the match, but he’s pushed and bullied into finally hitting the ball wide, and Nadal takes control of the game from there. Steve Smith was at the tennis yesterday, and it seems he enjoyed it because here he is again. He’s sitting next to Reece Hodge, while another notable Australian sportsman, Cadel Evans, is also in the house. And probably some others I haven’t been told about.
Second set: Nadal 6-3, 2-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) At 15-30 Cilic wins a crucial point with a serve too strong for Nadal to return, but then he drops a forehand into midcourt, and Nadal gobbles it up. That sets up a break point, which Cilic saves impressively before motoring through the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, I’m not sure about the end of this message - personally I’d replace “beg for mercy” with the more understated “lose”.
@Simon_Burnton Cilic needs to do more if he wants to win this match. If Rafa hits top gear he ll beg for mercy @AustraliaOpen2018
— Ajegena Adigizi (@bunnies04) January 23, 2018
Second set: Nadal* 6-3, 1-1 Cilic (*denotes server) A real retro service game this from Nadal, held to love just as players used to do back in the good old days, aka the start of the first set.
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Second set: Nadal 6-3, 0-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) First-set stats: Nadal hit 70% of his first serves in, winning 80% of those points, to Cilic’s 59% (winning 64%), hit 17 winners to Cilic’s 16, and seven unforced errors to his opponent’s 14. More happily for Cilic, so far in this set he’s winning 100% of points on first serve, and has just held to 15.
Nadal takes the first set!
First set: Nadal* 6-3 Cilic (*denotes server) At 30-15 Nadal serves right into Cilic’s hitting zone, on the forehand side, and the ball duly whistles past him for a clean winner. A few moments later Cilic saves a first set point with another fabulous forehand, and then he saves a second with an equally impressive backhand down the line. He can’t hold back this river, though, and Nadal takes the next with a fine forehand.
First set: Nadal 5-3 Cilic* (*denotes server) Cilic starts the game with a double fault, continues with a forehand long and follows that with a weak, short approach shot that leaves him hopelessly stranded at the net and facing three break points. An ace saves one, and then he hits a serve out wide to Nadal’s forehand and opens up the whole court, which he proceeds to miss.
First set: Nadal* 4-3 Cilic (*denotes server) After an error-strewn previous game,the players serve up the point of the match so far, won by Cilic with a meaty forehand down the line. Cilic continues to win alternate points, one with a fine, strong approach and conclusive volley, and another thanks to a double fault. There’s even a break point, saved by a strong first serve, and when Nadal puts away a volley to give himself advantage he leaps, spins and pumps his fist, before banging down another unreturnable serve. This is knife-edge stuff at the moment, decorated with lots of impressive shotmaking and also plenty of errors, on both sides of the net.
First set: Nadal 3-3 Cilic* (*denotes server) A lovely forehand down the line puts Nadal 0-15 up, and though Cilic serve-volleys his way to parity he then hits a forehand well wide to make it 15-30. This sets the tone for a wildly inconsistent game: first serves are missed, forehands netted, backhands miscued, and in due course an unforced error gives Nadal break point. It’s saved as a strong rally by both players ends with Nadal’s forehand hitting the top of the net, but a brilliant service return sets up another. This time Nadal attacks a second serve a little too hard and his backhand lands long. A third is saved by a fine first serve that’s too fast and too wide for Nadal, and a fourth when Nadal hits another second serve wide. Whereupon Cilic finally reels off a couple of consecutive points to take a game that Nadal will feel he had the opportunities to win.
@Simon_Burnton Rafa might need to think about coming into the net in this match against Cilic. History shows baseline rallies don't always go in Rafa's favour. Cilic has some mean groundstrokes. Volleys may well be Nadal's friend. #Tennis #AustralianOpen2018
— Sarah Alonze (@sarahalonze) January 23, 2018
First set: Nadal* 3-2 Cilic (*denotes server) HawkEye gets its first workout of the evening, Nadal challenging the decision to call a first serve out. Rightly so, as it turns out: the ball just caressed the back of the line. Twice Nadal serves wide to Cilic’s backhand before slamming the return into the empty court, and though they’re still sparring their way through the opening exchanges he already seems to be purring.
First set: Nadal 2-2 Cilic* (*denotes server) Cilic waits a while before getting the game started. He bounces the ball. He pauses. He bounces it a bit more. And then he hits a perfect serve that slides wide of Nadal’s flailing racket. This, though, isn’t a straightforward service game, and when Nadal comes to the net to put away a volley a few moments later it’s to make it 30-30, and then the Spaniard takes another point to reach deuce. From there, Cilic impressively controls a high backhand volley, landing the ball on the baseline, and another ace finishes it.
First set: Nadal* 2-1 Cilic (*denotes server) There has been now: the best/first rally of the match ends with Cilic forcing Nadal wide on the backhand side and coming to the net, where he is forced to stretch for a low volley and controls it excellently. Nadal, though, makes short work of the remainder of the game, and holds to 15.
First set: Nadal 1-1 Cilic* (*denotes server) Nadal stands five yards behind the baseline to receive Cilic’s serve, which makes it more likely that he’ll get it back, but then less likely that he’ll be in a decent position to win the rally if he does so. So it is that the best return he struck from a first serve was then thundered back past him for a clean winner. There has yet to be a point won against serve.
First set: Nadal* 1-0 Cilic (*denotes server) Cilic gets two returns into play, and loses both of those points with unforced errors: a forehand long, and a backhand into the net.
Warm-ups done, ready for action. Nadal has a fresh fluffy ball in his hand.
Nadal has won the toss, and will serve first.
The players are out!
Do they always play this when the ball boys/girls/non-gender-specific-noun come out?
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The players are about to take the court, with the spectators currently receiving a pre-match motivational gee-up from the PA announcer guy.
Grigor Dimitrov will be hurting right now. And, having seen the shirt he wore to his press conference, so are my eyes. He looks like a floral QR code, and not in a good way.
I liked Edmund’s reaction to his victory: “Now I know what it feels like to be Andy Murray for the last eight years.”
Morning/evening/whatever world!
It has already been a memorable day in Melbourne. As I type on the two main showcourts the only seeds to have won today, legends doubles contests notwithstanding, are the American doubles pairing of Mike and Bob Bryan, who are looking for a 31st Grand Slam doubles final and perhaps their first Grand Slam title since 2014. The women’s No4 seed, Elina Svitolina, was crushed in two sets by Elise Mertens, who had never previously been beyond the third round of a Slam; the men’s No3 seed, Grigor Dimitrov, was beaten by Kyle Edmund, the Briton unexpectedly reaching his first Slam semi-final; and on the Margaret Court Arena the top seeds in the men’s doubles, Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, lost to Jan-Lennard Struff (doubles ranking 157) and Ben Mclachlan (73). It has been seed carnage out there.
And so to Rafael Nadal against Marin Cilic. Both are seeded, so that’s something, but Nadal is the No1 and having lost his first meeting with Cilic, back in 2009, is 11-1 up in sets and 5-0 up in matches since. Asked just how dangerous an opponent Cilic is, Nadal came up with a deliciously gnomic response: “[Whomever I play] today is the most dangerous player that I can play against, because [they are] the one that I’m going to play [today].”
Then we’ve got Carla Suárez Navarro against the No2 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who has won five of their seven meetings and only ever lost to the Spaniard on clay. Can the carnage continue? We’re about to find out!
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